Daily Archives: September 8, 2017

Over a dozen Sifrei Torah of The Shul of Bal Hourbour, Florida, are wrapped in waterproof bags in anticipation of Hurricane Irma over the weekend. The area is under a mandatory evacuation order issued by Miami-Dade officials.

As Atlanta’s population surges with evacuees from Florida and the Atlantic coast, the local Jewish community has opened its doors and hearts to thousands who fled their homes and will be spending Shabbos in an unfamiliar place.

The Chabad emissary to Key West, Florida, expressed the fears shared by many local residents on Wednesday as Hurricane Irma approached the area, and detailed the measures he was taking to prepare for the Category 5 storm.

A recidivist burglar and thief was apprehended and arrested after he was spotted by a sharp-eyed Shomrim volunteer as he was breaking into cars on Carroll Street in Crown Heights. When police attempted to take him into custody, he violently resisted arrest.

“I noticed that every few minutes one of the younger chassidim would ask one of the elders if they can take over in helping carrying the heavy barrel of water. However, each time the elderly chassidim refused to relinquish their place.”

During the month of Elul, when it is customary for Jews to check their mezuzos and tefillin, we share a letter in which the Rebbe answers a person questioning the Rebbe’s emphasis in the mezuzah campaign, in which he explains that a mezuzah is like a helmet. A powerful lesson for all, especially for educators. The letter, written originally in English, is from the archives of the Rebbe’s personal trusted secretary, Rabbi Nissan Mindel.

What is the soul? Consider your reflection in the mirror. The current image of yourself is different than your fifteen-year-old self. Which one is the REAL you? You also feel and think very differently at the moment than you did when you were fifteen or five, and will likewise feel and think differently when you are eighty or ninety. So the human being is perpetually changing—physically, emotionally, intellectually—which begs the question, “Where is the real you?” Rabbi Pinchas Taylor gives a clear and logical way of explaining the soul.

Yeshiva Torah Ohr of North Miami Beach, under the leadership of Rabbi Emmanuel Storfer, continued learning Torah Thursday morning, despite the frantic preparations for the looming Hurricane Irma all around them. Later that afternoon, the Yeshiva departed for a Shabbaton to a more central and less Hurricane prone area of Florida.

Chai Elul marks the birthday of the two “Great Luminaries” of the Chassidic Movement: the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe. Courtesy of JEM, we present a beautiful playlist of videos connected to this day.

As it becomes more likely that Hurricane Irma will make landfall in Florida and other southeastern states over Shabbos, the Chabad on Campus centers in those areas are mobilizing their resources to meet the needs of Jewish students on their campuses.

On the very same parcel of land where the first Yeshivas Tomchei Tmimim was founded, sat hundreds of Tomchei Tmimim students who arrived from Moscow learning and davening, along with Chief Rabbi of Russia, Berl Lazar, Yeshiva staff and administrators * A sight to behold once in 120 years.